I threw together this quick pasta dish for our second anniversary tonight, and it sort of reminds me of Julie- beautiful to look at, and then filled with such rich gooey warmth it just made me glad that I was smart enough to order such a great dish.
Uh, something like that. I'm not exactly good with the mushy stuff, but I've got the most perfect wife I could have ever wished for.
This was the dish I alluded to in my "Wokking the Plank" post last week, using more of the ingredients I picked up at Lee Lee Oriental Market recently. I picked up some baby bok choy and some baby eggplant that looked good, and some larger scallions. I made some homemade teriyaki sauce, using only half the sugar to marinate the salmon.
Once the salmon was under the broiler I added the remaining sugar to the marinade and reduced it by about 30%. I stir fried the eggplant first in some peanut oil to get a good color on it, then put it aside while I did the bok choy. I added the eggplant back, tossed in the scallions, then added a bit of the sauce to give it a nice color.
I topped it with some toasted sesame seeds after I took the picture, and we feasted until we couldn't eat any more. Good, good stuff.
I broiled some halibut steaks to accompany the avocado rolls I made for our Sunday dinner. Halibut is awesome in Japanese dishes, cooked or raw. It has a delicate flavor that seems to really appeal to somewhat squeamish fish eaters, so try it sometime you're serving fish to those you're not sure like it.
This was really easy- broiled dry, then I pulled out the center bones with a set of hemostats I like to use for boning fish. I topped the steaks with ponzu sauce, which is a lemony sort of soy sauce with some dried bonito flakes, broiled again for a minute or so, then plated with scallions and fresh ginger. I should've marinated the fish in ponzu with the ginger for a while, but it slipped my mind as I was putting together the sushi. We survived, in fine style!
Although you might translate basa as "bass", it's actually a type of catfish. A firm white fish with reddish coloring, it's ideal for breading. These filets were done the simplest way possible, in a one quart Ziploc bag with a 3:1 mixtture of flour and Survival Spice®, then broiled.
I served this with flour tortillas warmed on my griddle, thinly sliced red onions, black beans, lime juice, and some guacamole that I'll post later. Crazy good.
This is a quick and simple dish, relatively speaking, with minimal prep required, which these days is about at the top of the priority list. A beurre blanc sauce, literally 'white butter', is done with whole butter, white wine, lemon juice, parsley and shallots at its most basic form, but is really easy to embellish with things like red bell pepper, capers and whatever else you feel like throwing in there. My ratio of butter to lemon juice wasn't high enough to make this a 'textbook' beurre blanc, but this slightly lighter version was still amazing.
The main trick to a beurre blanc is to not heat the butter to the point of splitting. I dimly remember that being around 137º from my culinary school days, but the basic technique to this pan sauce is to give your skillet a quick wipe after you've removed whatever meat you've cooked, then adding the shallots, and sweating them a minute or two. Deglaze with a shot of white wine, reduce this to 'au sec', or nearly dry, then add your whole butter. Alternate between on and off the heat, swirling your pan almost continuously, until the mixture emulsifies. Thin with lots of lemon juice, toss in some chopped parsley if you like, or cilantro, then plate 'er up.
The acidity of the white wine and lemon juice makes this sauce much lighter than you'd expect. As far as the fish goes, all I did was season it with a bit of Survival Spice® and sauteed it in our Tibvrtini Olio Extra Virgene di Oliva, then kept it warm on a sizzle plate.
If you want to keep playing with butter sauces after you've tried this, a beurre noisette, or browned butter sauce is absolutely amazing, but that's another day.
Okay, I hate to start the week with something so racy, but let's get the juvenile part of this out of the way- "Puttan" means "whore".
To me, the most credible explanation of the origin of "alla Puttanesca" is that because it's a dish that can be thrown together using only pantry ingredients so quickly, the working girls could have a quick meal in between dates. I've also heard that the aroma would draw in customers. Maybe one led to another, who knows?
Our dinner last night is not the classic version. I make a classic puttanesca the way that I was taught- by sauteeing some roughly chopped tomatoes, garlic, chopped anchovy, capers, olives, with a chiffonade of parsley and basil. Then I add some cooked pasta, toss, then take off the heat, along with a good drizzle of Tibvrtini Olio Extra Virgine di Oliva.
I started out to do the classic version last night, but because we wanted to incorporate salmon with the fettucine, the Alfredo option came to mind. Being me, instead of doing one or the other, I decided to try to smash the two sauces together.
I was lucky enough to have some leftover artichokes on hand, so in they went into a saute pan with tomato concassee, black Greek olives, red bell pepper, green onions, and copious amounts of garlic. Once the veggies were done I browned off some cubes of a nice salmon filet. Once the fish was out of the skillet, I deglazed the pan with some white wine, reducing it 50%. I added a little chicken stock, reduced it a bit, then finished it off with some cream. I added back the veggies, seasoned the sauce and then added back my pre cooked fresh fettucine. Quick toss, then a few minutes with the fish back in the pan, and it was all done, ready for lots of Parm Reggiano.
It was really, really good and I didn't have to cook it under a red light...
I hope you all had a great Fourth of July!
My menu planning for yesterday was dictated by the 116º scorcher we had. You know me- I love to take a day to smoke a big ol' hunk of meat, but after a day outside sunnin' and funnin', the last thing I wanted to do was spend a lot of time over a hot grill.
So... with operating parameters set, what to make? On hand- shrimp, leftover brown rice, tomatoes, a red onion, cilantro and a globe eggplant. Easily obtained at the market- red bell peppers, anaheim chiles, lemons, and jalapenos. Aha! I have a plan...
I cut the eggplant in wedges, removing about half the skin and salting them fairly liberally, then cut the peppers into wedges, too. Into a one gallon ziploc bag they went with the red onion, with an obscene amount of crushed garlic, some Tibvrtini Olio Extra Virgene di Oliva, a spash of Tibvrtini Aceto di Vino Blanco, and some kosher salt and black pepper. I left them at room temperature to marinate while I tossed the shrimp into another bag with some more garlic (okay, a lot more) and plenty of Survival Spice™, which absolutely rocks on grilled shrimp.
All that was left to prep was to concasse some roma tomatoes, and clean some cilantro. Into a work bowl they went.
I built a hot fire with pecan wood, and let it settle down a bit. Once everything was marinated, I emptied the bag of veggies onto the hot grill, then went about getting some serious color on the veggies. The eggplant got special attention, blackening the skins and filling the eggplant wedges with tons of pecan flavor.
Once the veggies had great color, but were still between al dente and fully cooked, I took them off the grill, chopping them coarsely and adding them to the cilantro, brown rice and tomatoes already in the work bowl. I added a glug of Tibrtini Novello, about half a lemon's worth of juice, and seasoned to taste.
While that sat, I grilled off the shrimp at high heat just long enough to change the color, and squeezed some lemon juice on them before I took them off the grill.
Plated it up, and man did it hit the spot. Light, but huge flavors, and just the right temperature on a scorching day.
Try this technique with whatever you have on hand. It's the perfect summer meal.
Travel Day again today, but finally I'm headed home, ready to get back to work!
This was a pan-fried salmon filet that I marinated in soy, mirin, lemon juice and some chili/garlic paste. I'll admit, brussel sprouts weren't exactly the traditional Japanese accompianment, but they tasted good! I just steamed them, and added some butter and S&P.
Now, if I had eaten like this the whole time I was in the Midwest, my jeans wouldn't be so tight.
Say, are those Christmas cookies?...
Here's a refinement on the Scaryaki sauce I've posted about a few times here so far, with an adjustment for the salmon I had on hand.
I wanted something a little more traditional in terms of the sweetness a typical teriyaki sauce has, but with the heat in my "scaryaki" version, so I added a touch of honey to the usual blend of soy, hot chili garlic paste, and Sriracha hot sauce, with just a touch of sesame oil. After letting the fish marinade for about half an hour, I drizzled a bit of canola oil on the fish as my skillet was heating up. Why do I oil the fish, and not the skillet? Because if you do it this way, you'll have far less spattering, because there's no extra oil in the pan.
The honey I added this time forced me to change my cooking technique somewhat- instead of being able to sear the salmon at high heat, which of course would burn the honey, I settled on medium to medium high heat this time.
I served this with brown rice and a salad similar to the one in the Scaryaki Halibut post. Mmmmmm.....
So, cook anything good this weekend? Give!
After a busy day, there's nothing simpler than firing up a good gas grill with a few wood chips and grilling your dinner. No pots, no pans, very little cleanup, and really delicious.
Last night was salmon filets, oiled and rubbed generously with our Survival Spice™ barbecue rub, which is fantastic on salmon. After the salmon was on the grill for a few minutes, I added some lightly oiled and seasoned asparagus. A good squirt of fresh lemon juice during the last 5 minutes of cooking, and that was it.
Healthy, amazing and easy. Three of my favorite words.
What did you have for dinner last night?
John in Chicago sends along a really fantastic-sounding lobster dish using copious amounts of Survival Spice™:
I made a sauce by taking butter and adding fresh lemon verbena & garlic and warming it to infuse the lemon verbena ................................... I grilled the lobs w/ survival spice and redusted when they came off ........................... ugga bugga
Wow. Sounds like that hits all the right notes! I've mentioned Survival Butter and how amazing it is with crab, but John took it at step further by adding lemon verbena. Nice touch! He didn't mention if he clarified the butter, but you certainly don't have to.
I'm not sure exactly what "Ugga Bugga" meant, but I assume that means it was good!
Been cooking? Email me!
TPC note: Oops, this didn't publish yesterday for some reason, sorry! Here's the post:
Okay, it's Monday. Let's make the best of it!
Here's breakfast from Sunday morning- forgive the alliteration, but it was good. A simple use of some leftover wild caught salmon I had grilled Friday night, with some organic brown eggs and green onions. Scrambled up with a touch of milk and some of our Survival Spice™ barbecue rub to add to what was on the salmon, and it was ready for some toast and jam.
How was your weekend? Cook anything good?
Here's another in a series of healthy, yet utterly delicious dinners I've been making lately.
The fish dish, Alaskan Halibut (thanks, Lloyd!) was lightly oiled and seasoned with Survival Spice™, then just coated with fresh bread crumbs mixed with more Survival Spice™. Fried over medium heat in a cast iron skillet with a squirt of lemon juice, it had a great crunch on the outside, and was nice and moist throughout.
As for the side dishes, I was craving pasta but didn't want the carbs, so instead I sliced red onion, Italian zucchini and yellow squash in thin, noodle-like strips and sauteed them in Tibvrtini Olio Extra Virgene di Oliva and plenty of lemon juice. I talked about the Poolside Avocado Salad the other day, and the cilantro vinagerette I drizzled over the plate really gave it a nice fresh flavor, and brought the whole thing together.
The "noodles" were really a great alternative to my pasta craving, try it!
(Photo: TPCs Scaryaki Halibut Salad)
This is one of those "Here's what you got, make something up" dishes that totally kicked butt. I call it "Scaryaki" because it was spicy and flavorful enough to peel paint!
I started by marinating some halibut filets (thanks, Lloyd!!!) in more or less equal parts of soy sauce, chili garlic paste, and Sriracha hot sauce, stuff that should be in your refrigerator at all times, I think. Make extra, so you have some to use as a dipping sauce.
I got a cast iron skillet really hot, added a touch of oil to it, then fried my halibut filets. Warning: you might want to stand back a bit, the spicy aroma is a bit intense. I, of course, breathe it in like Vapo-Rub...
The salad couldn't be simpler. A small head of butter lettuce, washed, outer leaves removed, and broken in half. An amazingly simple but incredible oil and vinegar from two parts Tibvrtini Olio Extra Virgene di Oliva and one part Tibvrtini Aceto di Vino Bianco, kosher salt and pepper. I still haven't topped this extraordinary combination and I've tried, believe me. A few snipped organic chives from the herb garden and then plated it all up.
It blew me away. I'm really trying to watch my diet these days, eating healthy stuff all week so I can splurge a bit on the weekends, and this dish really reinforced the idea that big, bold flavors can do a good job substituting for a lack of fillers.
Here's a great picture sent in by Janella of some Tilapia filets she grilled recently with Survival Spice™:
Well, since everyone takes pictures of their creations, I took one of mine. These are talapia filets, rubbed with EVOO and then coated with Survival Spice!!! These were grilled for 5 minutes on one side and 2 minutes on the other and they were goot! AND we usually don't like fish!!! All we could taste was the Survival Spice!!
That does look really 'goot', Janella! And for those who do like the taste of fish, you can cut back on the Survival Spice™ a bit. When using SS on fish, or anything really, you should vary the seasoning to suit the amount of flavor in the fish. Oily fish like salmon can really take a lot of seasoning, but subtle fish like halibut and tilapia don't need as much.
For more fish ideas and grilling tips, visit our archive here.
What did you have for dinner last night? Email me if you've got pictures!
(Photos: Paul Brown)
Emails like this just make my day. Paul "AKA Chilebrown" Brown sent in a delicious looking crab cake recipe using Survival Spice™, which as I've noted before, adds wonderfully to the flavor of crab, accentuating the sweetness of the meat and adding succulence with a little zip.
If you're not fortunate enough to have access to fresh lump crabmeat, using a mix of 1/2 lump and 1/2 shredded is a good substitute. It's important to be gentle when mixing these, so you don't break up your expensive lump crab meat, and as Paul noted, giving them time in the refrigerator to set up before cooking them will help keep them together.
Paul, you rock. Here's his recipe:
(Another charming, slightly out of focus photo by yours truly...)
Just a simple weekday dinner, nothing fancy. Okay, the weekend meals aren't that elaborate either, most of the time, I gotta admit. Not during the holiday crunch, anyway...
As I was steaming some red potatoes and green beans, I took some fantastic Alaskan halibut (thanks again, Lloyd!), drizzled it with a bit of oil, and a touch of lemon juice and Survival Spice™.
While that was on the grill, I made a quick vinagerette of some butter, Tibvrtini Olio Extra Vergine di Oliva and Tibvrtini's amazing Aceto di Vino Bianco, along with some salt and pepper in a bowl.
When the veggies came out of the steamer, in they went into the dressing, sucking up the butter and all those great flavors.
The halibut was terrific, subtle with a great buttery texture. Just a pinch or two of seasoning was plenty. This would make a killer Nicoise salad. Hmmmm.... if there were any leftovers, that is.
(TPCs Alaskan Halibut crusted with pine nuts and Survival Spice™)
I hate to keep going on about this, but this truly was a magical pairing of ingredients, and I don't say that lightly. Lots of things I cook up in my head before I cook them on the stove aren't quite as good as I hoped that they would be, but this was exactly what I intended to make.
Halibut is an amazing fish to work with. It's incredibly subtle, with a firm texture, and it's important to not overwhelm it with strong, inappropriate flavors. I decided to just make a simple crust of ground pine nuts, flour and Survival Spice™. I've used Survival Spice™ with halibut before as a rub, but it's important to not overdo it. Salmon and other oily fish- lay it on, it can take it.
I dusted the fish with flour and kosher salt, squeezed a bit of lemon juice in lieu of egg wash to help the breading stick, and then just lightly breaded it with the mixture. Again, think subtle. Pan fried in Tibvrtini Extra Virgin Olive Oil and butter, it was ready in minutes. Covered on a plate, I tossed the raviolis and the blanched asparagus with the sauce and it was good to go.
The sauce was intended to add richness and decadence in terms of mouth feel, and the background heat from the pasilla chiles was just right. More richness from the cheese raviolis, and the asparagus finished it off. Truly a special meal in so many ways.
(Photos: Mary, who seems very happy to shoot food pictures...)
What a feast. I got a shipment of Alaskan seafood in yesterday from my buddy Lloyd, who totally hooked me up. Alaskan King Crab legs, more crab, halibut filets and steaks, and killer smoked silver salmon.
He's challenged me to develop some Southwest techniques for preparing them, and since I just flew in yesterday, last night's dinner needed to be simple and fast. I clarified some butter, and infused it with plenty of Survival Spice™.
I'm a real purist when it comes to crab, especially the best King Crab on earth, so I wasn't sure if it would go over, but it did in a big way! I had to dump the plain butter into the "Survival Butter" because it clearly was the favorite. The sweetness complemented the crab beautifully, and the spice gave it a wonderful depth of flavor, again, complementing the crab's flavor and not obscuring it at all. Wow.
We sat outside on the patio watching baseball, drinking Red Hook ESB and dipping huge chunks of this amazing crabmeat and a Willo Bakery baguette into the butter, and life couldn't have been any better. Thanks, Lloyd!
(Photo: John)
Wow, John. This looks really great. Sent in by John in Chicago, who is a bad ass cook, he describes this as:
wild caught alaskan halibut - encrusted w/ rosemary infused Panko,
the dipping sauce is anchovy - cilantro - olive oil - garlic - lemongrass - chili paste -
mesquite honey , the veggies are tossed in lemon - capers - butter - and pepper ,
the plate is dusted w/ SURVIVAL SPICE (tm)
Email me what you had for dinner last night!
In case that doesn't make you drool enough, take a look at the picture of the halibut on a piece of foil after it was done in the extended entry:
Wow, Food Fight Four is complete, and Shauna has submitted a beauty to close it up! I've excerpted most of her post at Gluten Free Girl, but go to her place for the whole thing, along with lots of other great stuff.
Shauna drew MC's Northwest Salmon with a Twist"" as her dish to interpret, and she definitely took the ball and ran with it. Apricot sausage? Watermelon sorbet? Right on.
She also said some nice things about yours truly that I'm not sure I deserve, but I really appreciate it. When I formulated Survival Spice™ for production, I was a maniac about sourcing premium ingredients. I wanted to produce an all natural product because it tasted better than anything else I tried, not because I was aware of Celiac Disease at that point. Happily, when I checked with my suppliers, they each said their ingredients were gluten free, so I felt comfortable spending the money to have it verified by an independent lab. There are lots of good resources on Shauna's blog for those with Celiac disease, if you know someone please pass her site on to them.
(All photos: Mary, of TPC's Mediterranean Madness)
Okay, so I overdid it. Ana's entry really got me thinking about a style of food that I haven't prepared nearly enough, and it was time to correct that a bit. Ana's salad featured homemade falafel and pita bread, so I had to make those, but what else? Part of the charm of Mediterranean cuisine is all the wonderful side dishes- dips, spreads, salads, so I had to make some of those, too.
This was getting to be a lot of work, and I hadn't even gotten to an entrée yet! To keep it simple, I decided to grill a bunch of kabobs, chicken, shrimp and lots of veggies. Something for everyone, and some low/no carb options for those who requested it. I'll post some recipes later, lots of pics and comments are posted below. Thanks to Mary, a great photographer friend of mine, who took all these great pictures, despite inadequate lighting and all of us trying to steal food off the plates before she could shoot them.
MC has sent in a cool combination of flavors, a great piece of Pacific salmon with a citrus-Creole seasoning, accompanied by some grilled sausages, corn and sauerkraut with some cool cantelope. Great, simple flavors well executed, which as you well know by now, I'm all over that. MC's entry is another example of how variations there are to grilling, as long as you follow the basic guidelines.
We do have to work on his choice of seasonings, though... :©)
Recipe and more pics in the extended entry.
(TPCs Organic Basil Pesto with Shrimp and Spaghetti)
It was 115º here in Phoenix yesterday and the basil in my herb garden took a bit of a beating, so I threw together this pesto dish. Not my finest picture, sad to say, but it really tasted good, at least!
The name pesto, for those who don't know, is a derivation of "pounded" and the word pestle, as in mortar and pestle. A traditional Italian dish, it is an uncooked sauce and is terrific on hot and cold pastas and in pasta salads. It is typically made from basil along with garlic, toasted pine nuts, olive oil and grated parmesean cheese but spinach, cilantro, mint and parsley pestos have made their way into the marketplace over the years.
The important thing with pesto is that it must be made just before service to keep the bright green color. Without getting too technical, as basil is crushed chemicals inside and outside the cell walls are combined, creating a black result. A good way to cheat if you have to make it ahead is to use some Italian flat-leaf parsley in your pesto along with the basil. It will not brown quite as deeply so this is done a lot in restaurants. Parsley also gives a nice aromatic lightness that a lot of people like.
You can make pesto in a food processor, but this will really accelerate the blackening process because of the high speed and heat of the blades so be careful. Use a mortar and pestle! It's easy, very theraputic and it has a great Wow factor if you make it front of guests, just prep your ingredients in advance.
Here's my very 'scientific' technique:
1) Crush 4 or 5 cloves of garlic in your mortar, using your pestle. If you aren't garlic crazy, cut it down because raw garlic will become quite sharp with all the pounding.
2) Add 2 big handfuls of basil, grinding them down gradually to a rough paste.
3) Add a handful of toasted pine nuts and smash 'em up a bit. I used my toaster oven to toast these for the first time per Dr. Biggles excellent suggestion, though I found my toaster oven is a bit uneven so you might want to give them a shake halfway through.
4) Add a couple of handfuls of grated parm cheese, enough olive oil to make it somewhat pourable, stir then season TT.
I've been playing around with peccorino romano cheese a lot lately. It's a sheep's milk cheese I really like the flavor of but it's quite salty, which is why you should season your pesto at the very end.
Embellish with meat if you want. I had done a quick pan fry of some shrimp I had and tossed them with the pasta. Grilled chicken is terrific, too. Toss with your pasta and you're done.
What did you have for dinner last night?
Update- Someone asked me if I had used the Tibvrtini Extra Virgin Olive Oil I carry at Desert Island Foods™.com in the pesto.
Nope. That oil has so much character that although I could maybe see drizzling a bit of it on the top, it's a waste to use about a quarter of a bottle of an expensive oil in a pesto because there's so much other flavor there already. In a dish for dipping crusty bread in, absolutely, or drizzled on an organic green salad on the side would be amazing.
It would be decadent, though. I might have to try it next time...
Easy and good. Here's how I like to grill salmon fillets. A bit of oil and Survival Spice™ on the top and the bottom gets oil and a generous amount of kosher salt to help crisp it.
Onto a medium-high grill bottom side down until the skin is set up enough to remove. Flip the salmon onto the presentation side a a slight angle (if quadrillage is your bag), remove the skin and keep it on the grill where it will get enough heat to get crispy but not burned. If there is a lot of dark meat on the filet, scrape most of it off with your spatula and season the bottom with more Survival Spice™.
Turn, don't flip the fish 60º when your fish has the first grill marks. Grill a few more minutes until your presentation side looks good. Flip the fillet onto its now-seasoned bottom and cook until done.
I'm begging you, don't overcook your fish! Most people grill fish until it flakes and that's too late. By the time the connective tissue (myocommata, for bonus points) breaks down the actual meat is overdone. You want to pull it off the grill just before it flakes and carry over heat will do the rest.
Cut your crispy salmon skin into strips. I really like salmon skin if it's cooked well, some folks don't. Such is life.
Oh, the asparagus? Oiled and salted, onto the grill. A good squirt of lemon when it comes off. Easy.
Easy and amazing. Zip the rosemary leaves off into a ramekin with a little olive oil while you're seasoning the fish, which was just canola oil and Survival Spice™.
Season the squash with S & P then drizzle with the infused oil. Don't do this too far in advance so your veg doesn't absorb too much oil and get mushy. 10 minutes is plenty. This is all about fresh, clean flavors.
Drizzle the fish with a bit more oil, then lay the ahi best side down on the hottest part of the fire and the squash away from it a bit. If the fish sticks, don't move it! Eventually it will lift away on its own.
After a few minutes, sneak a look at the fish and squash to see if you have grill marks yet. If you do, rotate 60º and give it a few more minutes. Flip and get ready to plate! Ahi should not be overcooked. Feel it with your finger, if it's mushy wait a minute. When it's just starting to set up but still has some give to it, you're good to go!
Shrimp with spaghetti in a sauce made from butter/olive oil, lots of garlic, white wine and a bit of chicken stock and parsley, topped with asiago cheese.
I wanted to show you this dish as another variation of the simple pan technique I mentioned here last week.
I had a few emails after I posted that entry asking what the exact amounts of wine and stock were. I can't tell you that, not because it's some big secret but because this is more of a technique than a recipe.
The type of wine and the stock you have on hand are going to vary, depending on what's around. If you have a sweet wine like a Reisling, for example, you might want to not use as much as you would if you had a bottle of Pinot Grigio.
On the other hand, if you have some really good homemade stock you might want to really feature that, conversely if all you have is some canned stock that doesn't have much flavor you might need to use twice as much and then reduce it until it has some taste. Be careful when you do this though, it may become quite salty, you might not need much salt later.
TASTE AS YOU GO!!!! TASTE, TASTE, TASTE!!!!
Didn't mean to shout but I hope you get my point. Using what's on hand is much more interesting to me because I'm not eating the same old thing all the time, plus I'm taking advantage of the best ingredients available and featuring them prominently. Learning to cook this way, really cooking instead of blindly following a recipe will give you better meals and a lot more fun in the kitchen in the long run.
